Korean War:

Korea is mainly regarded as a failure but they had one unreserved success which was the care and treatment of the wounded. In the Korean War, they were able to cut the number of fatality rate from World War 2 in half. This success was due to the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) and aeromedical evacuation system with helicopters that was a game changer of recovery and the time to get to a hospital. Wounded soldiers had a better chance fo recovery in Korea than any other was because of air transportation. Without the aeromedical evacuation, almost all wounded would have died. Also during this war, new equipment and procedures were studied and tested, such as vascular reconstruction, artificial kidneys, development of light-weight body armor, research on extreme cold (to better cold weather clothes). As well as new drugs and antibiotics were used like anticoagulant heparin, sedative Nembutal, serum albumin and whole blood for shock cases. This time period had the most thorough and comprehensive analysis of Military Medicine because of the development of computerized data  of casualties. Although there were many positives in the system of military medicine, there was a shortage of doctors (specifically specialists) in the Korean War, so the first doctor draft happened in 1950. 

Combat Medical Care followed an echelon relay system. The first lie of care were the battalion aid stations and then were the separate forward station which consisted of 8 men: doctors, medics, and litter bearers. Their duties were to diagnose, triage care, and tag wounded. These stations were at risk from enemy while helping the wounded. The next step of the system was the larger collection station or a MASH unit which was an evacuation hospital. 

Before the war, ground transport/ ship transport was the best evacuation plans. But, the lack of roads in Korea were a problem and it forced the military to look into an alternative: helicopters. So in 1951, 4 aeromedical evacuation helicopters detachments were sent to Korea, and the draft made almost all MASH staff civilians. 

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital from Portable Army Surgical Hospital and teams from World War 2: orthopedic surgeon, nurses, surgical technicians were added. Due to the civilian draft, there was a more relaxed attitude about the Army. The lack of radio system was a problem so the Army adapted and used colored smoke grenades, marker panels, and hand signals for locations and landing of the helicopters. All these improvements boosted morale because a good medical system behind the soldiers to save the wounded and evacuate them. Military Medical staff under uniformed personnel care were the United Nations Command who also cared for civilians. Blood from the Red Cross went to the military hospital in Japan (where all final evacuations were made) to Korea. 

One of the most dangerous operations with Military Medical personnel and special operations was when UN troops crossed in 1950 to North Korea where the civilian population was decimated and filled with diseases. These troops were vaccinated but there were rumors that there was a possible Bubonic Plague reoccurrence, so they went to see for themselves. UN troops were captured in North Korea and later the Chinese got ill. The Chinese sent propaganda that the UN was using biological warfare. Later the North Korean population infected troops from bad hygiene. The North Koreans were a displaced population during this operation the special operations were able to examine victims and tried to take one victim back to Japan where it was deemed that the disease was only a form of small pox. But since the head Surgeon General went on this operation, it was used as propaganda against the US. 

 

 

Vietnam War:
The Vietnam War accelerated advancements in prehospital care. Medics and corpsmen utilized new treatments such as opening surgical airways and conducting thoracic needle decompressions and aggressive shock resuscitation on patients prior to transportation to field hospitals. These techniques are now employed by Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics throughout the United States. “The golden hour,” a term used to describe the concept that a patients’ prognosis improves  if they receive definitive treatment within the first hour after wound, became a reality during the Vietnam War. Innovations in field medicine, such as flight crews stabilizing the wounded during air evacuations and surgical teams treating patients for hemorrhagic and traumatic shock, contributed to reducing the time between injury and treatment. Throughout South Vietnam, anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists were stationed at military treatment facilities (MTFs), where they helped evaluate patients in the triage area and worked in operating rooms to administer anesthesia. Two anesthetic medications commonly used during the war were halothane and methoxyflurane. Ketamine, an ideal anesthetic for hypovolemic trauma patients (those suffering from a decrease in blood plasma volume), was discovered in the 1960s; in 1970, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved this sedative for medical use. Today ketamine is listed in the World Health Organization’s Essential Drugs List for health care systems to use worldwide. As a result of studies of Vietnam veterans, Holocaust survivors, and other trauma victims, the American Psychiatric Association recognized Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a psychological disorder in 1980. Psychiatrists understood PTSD to be a mental disease caused by the stresses of combat or similar traumatic incidents. Research conducted on veterans during and after they returned from Vietnam led to the establishment of this diagnosis. As service members return from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health professionals continue to study this condition and make innovations in the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD. During the Vietnam War, the military established the first rehabilitation and drug treatment programs to address the rise of illicit drug use among uniformed personnel. Service members who voluntarily admitted drug use to their commanding officer, chaplain, or unit surgeon often received treatment and sometimes avoided punishment.